Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 Review

The last few years have been good for Pro Evolution Soccer 2013. They haven’t been so good for the Pro Evo franchise, which is still trying to claw back the ground lost to FIFA, but as far as this year’s iteration is concerned, it’s been a journey worth taking. The reason for this is that, thanks to the progress made over the last couple of entries in the series, Konami’s latest football video game has something its most recent predecessors didn’t have: a clear sense of direction.

Over the last two years, it felt like PES was experimenting while trying to find its own identity all over again. PES 2011 brought in more realistic presentation and physics that were tinged with a slightly old school arcade intensity. PES 2012 built on these foundations, but placed more of an emphasis on the player’s attacking game while ramping up the pace in matches.

PES 2013 fuses all of these elements with a lethal degree of precision. It scales back the pace from last year (and thank God for that) while gifting the player with Rasputin-like control over the ball at their player’s feet. The result is a game that is neither simulation nor arcade but a subtle blend of the two, with a control system about as deep as an arcade fighter.

Now before the uninitiated start running for the hills, it’s worth pointing out that despite offering considerable depth in its controls, PES 2013 is still very accessible. Even before players head into their first match, the game suggests they take part in a list of mini-game tutorials in order to get to grips with the controls. Here, they’ll learn that taking a penalty is pretty laughably easy, but trapping a lob or heel-flicking a pass over their shoulder takes a certain degree of finesse. It’s really worth taking the time to practice your on-the-ball skills – even if players find they have to drop the game’s overall difficulty to Beginner level and beat up on the AI for a bit to do so.

The reason for this is that to truly get the most out of PES 2013, one must give themselves over to it. Newbies and FIFA stalwarts face a bit of a learning curve, but players who are prepared to explore the depth of the game’s control system and take their experience beyond mere button-bashing and lame attempts to out-position opponents will truly come to love this game. It’s possible to still enjoy it if all you want is a kick about on low difficulty, but it’s kind of like driving a Ferrari and never letting the throttle out. Oh, and you’ll get pasted by more committed players in head-to-head matches.

On the pitch action has been tweaked by the addition of what Konami is calling PES Full Control, a feature aimed at giving players the ability to put the ball exactly where they want it on the pitch – at any height, speed or direction. This allows for deft manual passing; by pulling in L2, players can ping the ball in any direction in a full 360-degree arch, and govern the distance of said pass depending on how long they depress the triangle or circle button. Naturally, the direction they’re facing, the skill level of the player they’re controlling and the momentum of that player’s run are all brought to bear on the outcome.

If they pull R2, the player they’re controlling can trap a pass lobbed at their feet. They can also use the right stick to twist their player’s body to flick the ball on past any nearby opponents, or tap up the ball and take it into space. The game’s Deft Touch Dribbling mechanic allows players to tightly control the ball at their player’s feet, allowing them to skin opponents, nutmeg goalies and ping the ball out wide to create space for shots or passing attempts.

Konami has given the player control of their teammates as well; by clicking in the right stick, players can have teammates break off from the player marking them on throw-ins, as well as charge into space to receive a pass. The latter move is particularly useful on the attack as players can send teammates on dummy runs to peel defenders off the man with the ball, creating more space for the attack.

On defence, hounding the player with the ball is the safest option. Double clicking the X-button is an effective way of snagging the ball from an attacker’s feet as the match referees are still a bit whistle-happy and will blow players up for any tackle that isn’t executed with laser-guided timing. Remember – don’t perform a slide tackle unless you’re sure of your target.

The game’s AI on both defence and attack has seen some marked improvement – although the top tier teams are able to catch defenders on the break perhaps a little too easy and a little too often. If they get back in time, however, players will see their teammates moving to cut out passes for through balls, while their opponents do their best to create space in and around the box.

It all results in an on-pitch experience that feels both immediate and challenging. Even on Normal difficulty setting, players can’t simply blaze through defences by sprinting into space and then seeking out teammates in their vicinity. Success in PES 2013 revolves around beating the player in front of you, while simultaneously moving your teammates into space – even if by doing so, you use them as a decoy. The whole on-pitch game feels fluid and organic; every set piece that comes off feels like a triumph and every goal feels earned.

It makes sense for PES to focus on its on-pitch action because like any premiership club staring into Manchester City’s bottomless bank account, it has had to make peace with the fact it can’t compete on EA’s terms. The game’s presentation, while hardly lacklustre, is slightly clunky in places. Superstars like Messi and Ronaldo may look and move like their real-world counterparts, but in celebratory animations they look dead-eyed and their mouths flap like goldfish, while the crowd cheering them on look like cardboard cut-outs. The game’s soundtrack feels generic, and while the commentary from Jon Champion and Jim Beglin isn’t as bad as it was two or three years ago, it’s hardly engaging.

Similarly, the depth offered in PES 2013 outside the immediate gameplay isn’t exactly earth shattering. The Football Life mode returns from last year with an online component bundled in and the online mode is still just as fiddly as ever. There’s also a Champions League Tournament and Copa Libertadores club competition, which one can sink hours into. However, the usual licensing issues remain, and given how EA has incorporated the different leagues into FIFA’s Career Mode and EA Sports Football Club in the last couple of years, PES 2013 can’t help but seem hamstrung by comparison in this regard.

Still, thanks to the work done on the pitch, the lack of an official license for some teams here and there isn’t a deal-breaker, and in truth, this feels more in keeping with the PES series of old. It’s been a rough few years for Konami’s football franchise, but with PES 2013, it feels like things are back on track. It’s not ground breaking and it’s by no means perfect, but PES 2013 – more than its recent predecessors – feels like a game with a sense of identity and direction. Best of all, it offers a unique and challenging take on the beautiful game that’s distinctly different from its competition. After years of heartache for PES fans, it’s great to see Konami’s footy game finally beginning to step out from EA’s gargantuan shadow.